Decorating glass surfaces



- Jan. 19 192e. 1,570,368

CL Cl ZEEH DECORATING GLASS SURFACE S Filed NOV. 5, 1922 /lV VEN T0l? Cha/'les CZ Zeh MQW A TTU/WE? To all whom t may covwe'rn- Patented Jan. `19, 1926.

UNiT-ED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE.

'CHARLES c. zEH, or NORTH HA c:xE1\rsie u: 1z`, NEW Jansma Assrefironv 'ro lzEnIN- OORPORATED, A CORPORATION or NEW JERSEY."

DECORATING GLAss. slirnrAoaal Application mea November s, 1922. serial No. $98,758.V I

Be it known that I, CHARLES c-zm 'a citizen of the United States, and resident of North Hackensack, in the countyfof Bergen and State of New Jersey, have invented- "certain new and useful Improvements 1n `Deco-.

I rating Glass Surfaces, of which the `following is a specification. v

. The invention relates in` general'to theart of fixing designs permanently on glass, china, or other fusible surfaces to be decorated and the'invention specifically relates to the fixing of those forms of designs whichare usually termed decalcomania and which are'printed in glass colors andwelded vor fused to the front of the glass objects to be decorated.

The invention herein disclosed pertains to the, formation of a design fused on anl opaque or contrasting background and which background preferably is an integral part yof a transparent glass object.

In the following specification and in the claims it is to be understood that the expressions transparent and opaque are used in a relative sense and not absolutely, and

both expressions are intended to cover translucent bodies. The expression decalcomania .is intended to cover any transfer picture, lettering, photograph, mark or other character or design formed by any 'decalcomania process, printed from type press, lith ographing, photographing, electrotyping, or formed by hand painting or by any other method usual in forming designs in color. 35

Ageneral object of the invention is topro videadecorated glass surface in which the design is clearly and distinctly set OH Visually from a contrasting back-ground of one or-morecolors, in which both the design and thebackground will be free of cloudy effects and her discolorations, and ir which the lines, @demarkation between the design and background will be sharp and distinct.

l The invention will be described with specific referenceto its applicationto the art of forming color'edlabels on an opaque white background and which label and back ground will constitute the decorative feature of a glass object such as a bottle'.

The approved method of forming such labels at present is to apply an opaque back i ground color to the transparent glass object, y t l I lj- Figure 3 isa perspective View of the backusually by painting a portion of the surface repeatedly with several layers offy Chinese white enamel or some other background color, and to fuse each layerseparately until the desired depth or intensity of white background is attained. In applying the design each color is applied separately and subjectedto a heat treatment following each application. rWith most colors it is necessary to subject the article to the heat treat- `ment in order to fuse the colors thereon at least twice for each color and not infrequently four or live heatings are necessary for each color. This repetition of color application.with the repeated fusings renders the process expensive particularly from the standpoint of labor, and also increases the liability of breakage. Further the repeated fusings have a tendency to reduce the opaqueness of the vcolors thus necessitating more repainting than would be necessary if there were a less number of heatings.

Accordingly one of the objects of this invention isto provide a simple, easily practiced and commercially perfected method for fusing a design in one or more colors with an appropriate opaque background securely affixed to a transparent glass object and to attain a neat, clearly displayed design by one fusing operation. Briefly, the invention contemplates the positioning of the design, usually a decalcomania, on a thin sheet of opaque glass; temporarily securing the opaque glass with the decalconiania thereon to the transparent glass and subjecting. the parts thus assembled to a single heat treatment so as to fusey the de-v calcomania colors to the opaque sheet and to fuse the opaque glass permanently to the transparentglass object. v

Another-object of the invention is to provide a neatly decorated glass article with theA ground forming opaque plate constituting an article of manufacture prior to its installation on the transparent bottle.

In the drawings there is shown a conventional form of medicine bottle 10` provided on its front face with a shallow depression or seat 11 designed at present to accommodate a form of printed label now in general use. An opaque glass plate l2 one form of which is known as opal glass, is provided of a size and shape to fit in the depression 11 and to bring the frontI face 13 of the plate 12 flush with and form a continuation of the front of the transparent portion of the completed bottle. A design 14 formed of fusible glass colors is positioned on the front face 13 of the plate 12 by placing thereon a decalcomania of the design. The decalcomania is preferably applied as a single operation in order to feature economy in labor but under some circumstances as where the parts of the desi are widely separated it may be preferre to apply more than one decalcomania.

For the purpose of illustrating the use of different colors all applied at the same time it will be understood that the lettering part 15 of the design is red, the border 16 is blue, and the star-shaped character 17 is yellow. The design is simply stuck on the opaque glass sheet 12 as is usual in applying decalcomanias. The insert plate thus formed is secured temporarily in the recess 11 preferably by means of a suitable adhesive. It is also suggested to apply any known low melting fuse between the contacting glass surfaces to insure a lperfect fuse between the transparent and opaque glass. The bottle 1s then placed in a suitable kiln and heated to the proper temperature to effect a fusing of the lass colors to the opaque plate and also to eect a fusing of the opaque sheet to the transparent lglass object following approved practice in t is respect.

When removed from the kiln with just this single heating the opaque glass is securely and integrally inset in the transparent; glass and the design stands out prominently and distinctly from the white background rovided by the opaque sheet.

By fo lowing thls method the liability to failure has been minimized by the single heating treatment and a pleasing neat form of decoration is provided, free of distortion, blistering or cloudy effect.

It is suggested that under some circumstances as where the transparent glass object is bulky or where a saving in manufacturing cost is vital, the decalcomania may be fused in the opaque glass separate from the object to which 1t is to be applied and then the opaque glass with its fused design may be applied to its supportby other means than by fusing. In the present showing it glued to the number 0f tin, at one time od features 'the minimizing of the possibility of breakage of the bottles.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

l. In the art of fixing designs to a transparent glass object, the process which consists in placing a decalcomania of the design on the front side of a sheet of opal glass, causing the rear side of the opal glass to adhere temporarily to the transparent glass object and subjecting the two glasses to a heat treatment to cause the opal glass to adhere by fusion to the glass object.

2. In the art of fixing designs to a glass object, the method which consists in placing a decalcomania of the design on the front side of a glass body of a color contrasting with the decalcomania, said glass body const1tuting a background for the design, causing the rear side of the glass body to adhere to the glass object and subjecting the glass body w1th the decalcomania design to a single heat treatment at the temperature required to fuse the decalcomania colors.

3. In the art of fixing a design on to the surface of an object formed of fusible material, the method which consists in forming the design with fusible color on a fusible member without the use of heat, positioning the fusible member with its colored design thereon in contact with the surface of the fusible object and then subjecting the object and member to a single hea-t treatment to cause the fusion of the color to the member and simultaneously to cause the member to fuse to the object.

4. In the art of decorating transparent glass surfaces with a colored desi n, the method which consists in aflixing a eea-lcomania of the desired design to the outer surface of an opaque glass, temporarily securing the opaque glass to the transparent glass and fusing the decorated opaque glass with the design thereon to the transparent glass thereby to ailix the colored design rmanently to the transparent glass sur ace.

5. The process of fixing designs upon glass objects, comprisin forming said design in more than one mmeral color, applying the design while unfixed to the front surface of a fusible plate, having a color contrasting with the colors in said design, applying the plate with the design thereon to the glass object and subjecting the assembly thus formed to a single heating operation thereby with one heat treatment to fuse the colors to the plate and to fuse the plate to the glass object.

6. The process of fixing colored designs upon transparent glass objects consisting in lacing a decalcomania of the colored det" is way a large 12 may be fired may be considered that the plate 12 is simply sign on a piece of glass the color of the de- 13 sired background for the design and simnl-i taneously fusing the glass piece to the glass object and fusing the decalcomania to the glass piece.

7. The process of fixing designs upon glass objects, consisting in applying to the surface of the glass a decalcomania of fusible material having the designrthereon in one or more colors and subjecting the decalcomania surfaced glass to a single heat treatment at a temperature suflicient to fuse thc dccalconiania colors to the glass.

S. A11 article of manufacture comprising a background sheet of glass having fused to a face thereof a decalcomania design in a plurality of different lass colors with the design clearly and distinctly set off visually from the contrasting background and with both the design and the background free of cloudy effects and other discolorations, and with the colors bright and with the lines of demarkation between the design and background sharp and distinct.

Signed at New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 25th day of October, A. D. 1922.

CHARLES C. ZEH. 

